_Campbell Biemiller is a first-year journalism major at MU. She is an opinion columnist who writes about politics and entertainment for The Maneater._
Kristina Essig, an MU sophomore and Alpha Delta Pi’s Alpha Gamma chapter president brings new meaning to someone who genuinely cares for her sorority and not about superficial stereotypes.
While applying to colleges in high school, Essig focused mainly on out-of-state schools to branch out from her Dallas hometown. She participated in theater in high school but knew writing was always where she did her best work.
“Mizzou made me feel wanted because Mizzou was always in my mailbox, and then they invited me to be a part of their Walter Williams Scholar program,” Essig said, explaining how everything fell perfectly into place with MU.
Though she was originally a broadcast journalism major, working with KOMU before leaving campus due to COVID-19 made her realize her place is in strategic communications.
“Already being in my strat-comm classes this semester has made me realize it’s the place I’m supposed to be,” Essig said.
Growing up, Essig listened to her mom’s Zeta Tau Alpha stories from UCLA and admired how much the sorority impacted her. She also participated in National Charity League during high school and noted the similarities between leading that organization and a sorority.
“I kind of think of [being president] like an umbrella … I’m like a helping hand. If someone is really struggling with something, I’m supposed to be the person who steps in and takes that off their shoulders which is something I love doing.”
Essig went through formal recruitment in the fall of 2019 and was elected president last fall. ADPi has to get special permission to elect a sophomore as president, but Essig knew she wanted to lead her sorority since the beginning of recruitment. She explained how ADPi made her feel most comfortable and she wasn’t seeking the members’ approval like with other houses.
Stereotypically, formal recruitment is known for its cookie-cutter outfits and overexaggerated smiles from potential new members to impress the houses. Essig walked into ADPi, sitting up as straight as possible, as one member, Anna Austell, walked in and plopped on the couch. “So how do you feel?” she asked. “I’m great,” Essig said.
“No, how do you really feel?”
“Honestly, today was not a great day,” Essig said, and she felt her shoulders ease up. She felt at home with the girls and knew she wanted to lead and be a part of a genuinely caring community.
ADPi was something that gave her a home at MU. During Wafflepalooza, ADPi’s fundraising event in the fall of 2019, the ADPi girls had their separate stations set up to run the waffle buffet. Essig was on the team standing outside with signs for Wafflepalooza to draw people in, including a girl dressed in a waffle suit. Then it started pouring rain.
Essig expected the girls to run inside to fix their hair or their makeup, but instead, everyone laughed as one girl started belting “Dancing Queen” by ABBA after the speakers went inside. They continued to stand outside, dancing and singing in the rain while posters were ruined and the waffle suit was soaked.
“I’m glad I’m not just in some superficial group where all we care about is what we look like. We’re there for the memories and we’re there for the philanthropy,” Essig said.
With this mindset, Essig was able to befriend girls of all ages and become a known presence in the sorority.
“It’s one of those things where the upperclassmen knew me, but also I was one of the only people who knew the underclassmen too,” Essig said. “I feel like a president is somebody who can’t be stuck in a clique. I can’t just hang out with one group of people all the time — I should be sitting with different people at lunch, not just my friends.”
A big motive of hers is to connect the classes together, especially because out-of-house girls aren’t allowed to physically be in ADPi as often. One of Essig’s big concerns is keeping seniors in the loop because she said it’s hard to invite them to anything under MU’s regulations. She tries to fix this by keeping in touch with people’s emotions and trying to understand how they feel.
Following her presidency, she hopes to study in Brussels, Belgium and is on the five-year journalism Master’s program at MU. Despite being able to graduate early, Essig acknowledges that COVID-19 has already taken away so much of her college experience so she wants to enjoy it as long as she still can through extra classes and studying abroad.
After her college career, Essig wants to work for a marketing agency or advertising agency in Dallas or in the Western mountain regions to be closer to her family.
“I think a benefit to being out-of-state and so far away is I’ve made deeper friendships because I’ve had to stay every weekend and that’s where a lot of out-of-state students bond together,” Essig said. “I think it has made me appreciate my family more, and I don’t want to be quite as far away as I am here.”
As she faces another year of adapting to COVID-19, Essig genuinely feels lucky to be where she is today. Having lived through a year of COVID-19 already, she understands the difficulty of small things, like wearing masks in the house or only allowing one chair at a table despite living in the house every day.
Essig takes pride in her work and constantly strives to create a welcoming environment for every member. She has turned ADPi into a home for herself and over one hundred members forever.
_In support of social justice, The Maneater encourages you to donate to Race Forward, an organization in pursuit of racial justice that supports all people of color. Donate at: www.raceforward.org._
_Edited by Sofi Zeman | szeman@themaneater.com_